Energy Consumption by Rural Households in Northern Hunan

This study was conducted to investigate the household energy consumption in rural districts in northern Hunan and to help explore the sustainable and ecological energy policy.Questionnaires were used to acquire the details of energy consumption,and the electricity equivalent calculation was used in the energy statistics in four villages.The energy consumption in these four villages is influenced by the economic condition,geographic position and landform and the local custom.The traditional biomass energy and coal briquette are the primary energy source for cooking and heating,but they are used in a very low efficiency and result in poor IAQ.For sustainability,further measures should be taken to optimize the energy consumption with the efficient use of biomass energy,coal and electricity.